{"id":963,"date":"2020-01-21T11:01:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T11:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=963"},"modified":"2020-01-21T11:01:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T11:01:16","slug":"afterward-by-edith-wharton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=963","title":{"rendered":"Afterward, by Edith Wharton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edith Wharton\u2019s ghost story Afterward<\/em> is a subtle classic. Written in 1910, it focuses on the\nlives of a childless American couple \u2013 Mary and Ned Boyne \u2013 who are in the enviable\nposition of Ned having made so much money that they are able to devote themselves\nto a life of leisure. As to the source of this considerable fortune, the reader\nis long left in the dark, and as is so often the case with large sums of wealth\nrapidly acquired, the reader is left feeling that the manner of its getting may\nnot have been exactly salubrious. Here we encounter an echo of older morality\ntales, in which the protagonist sells his or her soul to the Devil in exchange\nfor a sum of money or worldly power for an allotted span. As Old Nick is a\ngentleman who never breaks his word in this respect, we know that he will\nreturn to claim what is rightfully his at the hour and date agreed, and whereas\nhe may not be a character who features in this particular tale, its basic\nstructure may be deemed, in certain respects, to be similar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite why the Boynes choose to make a new life for\nthemselves in England is not specified, although reference is made to their\ndesire to escape \u2018the soul-deadening ugliness of the Middle West\u2019 which had\nserved as their home for the previous fourteen years. It is at the suggestion\nof their cousin, Alida Stair, that they purchase a characterful crumbling\ncountry house \u2013 Lyng \u2013 in Dorset, with mullioned windows, great exposed beams,\nand none of the modern conveniences such as hot water or electricity. It is in\nthis Tudor time capsule, blessed with grounds large enough to accommodate a\nfishpond flanked by yews, that the two of them settle down to a tranquil life\nof \u2018Benedictine regularity\u2019, far-removed, it seems, from the troubles of the\nworld. For a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the opening of the story, Ned Boyne enquires into whether\nLyng might also have a resident ghost, as this is something that he jokingly\nthinks ought to be a feature of a house of such an age. Both he and his wife\nare informed that it does indeed possess a ghost, but that it is never\nrecognised as such until \u2018afterward\u2019, a remark that prompts him to pose the\nquestion: \u2018But what in the world constitutes a ghost except the fact of its\nbeing known for one?\u2019 In the case of this story, it is a question that long\ngoes unanswered, and we do not discover the identity of the ghost until \u2018afterward\u2019.\nThis is a fine piece of writing with skilful foreshadowing; a piece of escapism\nin which there proves to be no escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reader may be interested in three other West Country ghost stories found within the pages of Uncanny Tales from the English Shires<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

Share this:<\/h3>